Peat product



F. T. DOW.

PEAT PRODUCT.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. 15, I919.

1 ,414,344=.- Patented May 2, 1922.

Fig.1. Fig.2.

I v I I j //\\4 g \4 I a4 g I E 5 I I5 Q l S \5 \nvenibr. Fred T. D OW byMMkW N'Kys.

or screen having small ape rt'ures there-.

I thatof small fragments having thediameter sure} r f My invention, therefore; covers peat When reduced'to thislpencll like or 'sticl like frag.-

manna. now; or BANGOR, AINE;

Application filed November To all whom it may concern: Be it known that'I, FRED T. Dow, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bangor,

'countyof Penobscot, State of Maine, have invented an Improvement in Peat Products; of which the following description, in connection With the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts. I

This invention relates to a novel peat product. I I

As a result of some"experiments lhave beenfmaking with peat; II-have discovered that if peat which has been m'acera'tedv and, i '15 reduced 'to" a' I pulpy 'lconstituency" is then furtlier' tr'eated so" asfito' form it' intowhat 5 Icall pencil or stick-likefragments',that is, into elongated? "fragments "which are not greater "in diameter than one-quarter of an inch,'it' is then in such" condition that it can be readily and rapidly dried, and when dried "can be easilylformed into briquets of desired size, simply by'subj'ecting it toheat andpresmcntarylcondition. 1 I q An apparatus capable of producing peat havingthe above "characteristics comprises ameinber inthe form-of a perforated plate throughfof the diameter desired for'the sticklike fragments'and means for rubbing and forcing the .peat through said apertures. As

the 'peatis'thus forced through these small apertures, it emerges therefrom in small tentaculiferous streams. These separate streams of peat break into short lengthsas they emerge from the screen-like member so that the final form which the peat assumes is of the holes in the screen-like member and varying lengths. The operation of rubbing compressed compactly together.

the peat through theseaperturescompresses and condenses the peat so that the peat comprising .each' small stick-like fragment is Moreover,

' as the separatestreams issue from the apertures in the sieve and break'off' at different lengths they. are apt to curl slightly so'that the final fragments are not necessarily straight but some of them may be curved in the direction of their length. These sticklike fragments Will retain their shape, can be readily handled, and because of their geni Specification of Letters Patent,

15 1919. Serial No. 338,344. 2 a

eral curved shape they form vvhen collected v at nted 2, 19.22.

together a more or less porous bulk through 1 which a" dry ng medium may be readily forced, Peat, therefore, Which has-been reduced to pencil or stick-like 'fragmentsof 'this'type can be readily dried because when placed'on screens in bulk the drying medium 186.2511) forced through the bulk because of the porous character thereof. Moreover,

such peat Whendriedcan be easily briqueted' by subjecting it-toheat andpressureyas v 1 ov stated;

Fig. lis ayerticaljsection apparatus adapted to pro'duce my improved 'i I I peat produ t, said section being tal ."line. 1- ':1,'"Fig.

- Fig.2 isasection' on ale-aim 1 Fi'g; 3 ;shoWs some -individual"stick-like fragments; it p In the dravvingsl indicates 'atscreen'for -apertures '2 'therethrough'.-; ?lVhile the size of these "apertures is no t. essential to the invention, yet find best; resultsare secured :Wl16'l1 the apertures} are about anfeighth of 1 an inch-to a quarter or: -an inch 'in diameter. If p'eatffin a mae mtd, pulpy fcondition' is; f forced or rubbed through these apertures 2,

" it will emerge "front?the-plate 11in" small 5" "'8 sur enec'essarytoforce thepeatthrough these ,5

- apertures, the-peat in each stream will be ren on'the perforatedplatehavinga plu alityef small firmly compacted 'toget'lieii -,As the streams emerge from theiapertures they will'ibreak" off at differentflengths to' -form the-stickportion of such fragments will curl-more like fragments 4, and'af considerable ,pro-

or less'as they break, so that'the resulting mass of stick-like fragments is a more-or less porous mass. 1 v

Various devices may be employed for'forcing or rubbing thepeat through the aper-Y tures 2. One practical device" comprises members in-the form (if-rubbing :kjnives which"are arranged to bemoved over. "the. upper surfaces? of the screen platefll, said knives being constructed; so that in their movement in one direction they willcut't'he peat and in theirmovement in 'the,. other I .direction'they act as rubbers'to rub'the-peat through the -'-apertures'.- These rubbing knives are shown at 5, each knife being in" the form of a curved spring blade havinga 1 cutting edge 6 which engages the upper surface of the screen member The knife is i tions 2.

the carrier 8.

so shaped that the-under face 7 thereof forms a rubbing face. Vfhen' each knife is moving forwardly, the cutting edge 6 thereof serves to cut the peat, and when it is moving 5 in the opposite direction the rubbing surface V 7 "means of thls lnvention has the advantage;

7 has a rubbing action which forces the peat through the apertures 2. I have shown these knives 5 21's secured toa reciprocating carrier 8 and as arranged inpairs, the knives 10 of each pair being oppositely directed so that uponmovement of the car-rierS in each direction part of the knives will be cutting the {peat and the remainder of the knives will be rubbing the peat through the perfora- The screen'plate 1 isv shown as forming thebottom ofa trough 9 in which the carrier 8 and knives 5 are received, and this trough communicates with a hopper or 2 0 chamber 10 into which peat may be fed by any suitable means. This hopper or chamber is provided with means for cutting-or maoe-ratingthe peat, suchmeans beingrhere in shown as a plurality. of grate bars;11' 3 extending transversely ofthe hopper, and a 7 uct havingfthe characteristics above pointed I plurality of cutting knives 12 which are mounted on a shaft 113 andwhich co-operate with the'bars llto cut and macerate the peat. The carrier 8 is of a less width than erablybe formed'with the wide cutting edge 6 and rubbing surface? which extends substantially jacrossthe trough '9, and with the narrow shank portion which is secured to With this construction the carrier-"8 andknives donot interfere with ,the feeding .of the peat-t0 the screen-member1.'.

'5 For {feeding the Tub the hopper 40. I havejshown ac plurality of, feeding cylin-- der-s lit leadingto-thehopper10, and each provided with a feed 'plung'eri15for forcing the peat throughisaid cylinder into the hopper; v Each "cylinder is formed at 1 its 7' lower end with a pivoted gate 16 which opens downwardly automatically as the peat is forced therethrough, but whichwill close to prevent the peat from being forced up- 'wardly through the cylinder.. The plungers 15 will preferably be operated successively so that while one plunger is moving downwardly to force peat throughits cylinder into the hopper the other: plunger will be moving upwardly. The pivoted gates 16 saprevent the peat from being forced upwardly through the cylinder in which the plunger is retracting and thus "compel the peat to be forced downwardly through the grates 11' into the hopper 10.

6O The carrier 8 may be reciprocated in any suitable way, I- have herein shown forthis the carrier that projects through the end of "the trough -9.

V The peat product which is formed by that it might be very quickly dried. The' peat is formed into the stick-like fragments while it is still moist, and when thus formed it can be dried completely in a very short time merely by introducing it intoa drying oven. This is becauseof the factt'hat the individual fragments have arelatively small diameter and can be easily heated clear through and because of the further fact that a mass of these stick-like fragments is very porous so that when it is placed ina drying chamber the drying medium can readily penetrate through the mass. This is adecided advantage because in the manufac ture of peat the operation of drying the peat is usually one that takes'considerabletime, a l/Vith my inventionhowever the time requiredfor this stepis'reduced to a minimum. 85.

Moreover I have found that apeat-prod out canbe' easilyv formed into b'riquets by pressure and heat and since'the drying isdone beforefthe-briqueting process, the lat- 9t ter can be accomplished in a relatively short;

time.

WVhile I have illustrated herein one appa: ratus adapted. toproduce my improved peat product I wish to' state that this is shown merely for illustration. purposes and not with the intention of limiting the invention. I [I claim? 1. rig-peat pro'ductflin the form stick like 7 fragments of 7 closely eompacted peat, j 10 0 .eachhavinga very small transverse' dimen- .sion' which is substantially uniform from one end of; the fragment tothe other,

. 2. Apeat product in the form ofsticklike fragments .of closely-compacted peat, 105

eachfragment having adiameter considerably less than half an inch and some'at least of the fragments being curved in the direction of their length.

3. A peat product in the form of elongated fragments of closely-compacted peat, each having a diameter of less than a quarter of an inch.

, 4. A peat product in the form of individual stick-like fragments of closely-compacted peat, each fragment'having a substantially uniform cross-sectional dimension from one end to the other which is consid erably less than half an inch. I

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

, FREDIT. DOW. 

